Well there is always a dissonance between what critics and the general population will think of works, and here it is no different. A seasoned critic is more likely to enjoy or give more points to something that truly strives to be something more than run of the mill, while someone in a general audience might not care at all so long as they had a good time.
This is present in the west in Hollywood. Look at what typically wins the Oscars every year, and then go look what the best selling movies were of each year. They're almost never the same, but a select group of professionals valued certain titles more.
Anime is no different of course. That is why works like Naruto Shippuden continue to be the most popular anime titles (And nothing against Naruto, I admittedly still enjoy it when it's not on fillers). However, if someone sits here trying to tell me that the execution of these top titles is spot on, I can only shake my head in disbelief.
Yeah, execution can really make a somewhat banal premise very enjoyable, but sorry that isn't enough sometimes. I will never give the same credit to something like say last season's Tari Tari as I would to something like Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Or if you'd prefer a title in the genre not too far removed, take ~ef a tale of memories, which is considerably more imaginative, distinctive, and ambitious than Tari Tari in my eyes.
I very much agree with the idea that not all premises are created equally in an artistic sense. In terms of enjoyment, well sure it doesn't mean anything. People might enjoy watching paint dry. But if we had a sort of anime oscars or something, I'd figure that wouldn't be a top choice
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